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USF wins; Rutgers to Charlotte with win over Louisville?

With the University of South Florida beating Connecticut tonight to improve to 7-4, it appears that the Bulls will be St. Petersburg Bowl-bound. And as reported here earlier today — Rutgers’ cloudy bowl picture getting clearer — Rutgers will likely receive a bid to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte with a win over Louisville on Dec. 4.

A Rutgers win also will mean that the Sun Bowl — the Big East’s runner-up spot now that the Gator Bowl is expected to invite Nebraska from the Big 12 — has no choice but to take a Big East team over its preferred Notre Dame.

That Big East team, according to a league official familiar with the Sun Bowl’s thinking, will be West Virginia. According to the same Big East official, the Meineke will then invite Rutgers.

The rest of the bowl pecking order will be UConn to the International Bowl, Pitt to the PapaJohns.com Bowl and South Florida to the St. Petersburg Bowl.

All of this is assuming that Cincinnati beats Syracuse to earn the Big East title and BCS berth; Notre Dame loses to USC; and West Virginia at least splits its final two games (at Pitt, vs. USF).

Should Cincinnati lose, West Virginia, Pitt and even Rutgers still could win the conference title in a tiebreaker scenario.

If Notre Dame upsets No. 5 USC in its season-finale, the Sun Bowl will invite the Irish at the moment Charlie Weis takes his Gatorade bath. In that scenario, the Meineke will likely take travel-proven West Virginia and Rutgers would either go to the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham or to a bowl not affiliated with the Big East.

As for what happens if Rutgers loses to Louisville and finishes 6-6, that would leave the Big East with only five teams with 7 or more wins and mean 6-win Notre Dame would be back in play for the Sun Bowl.

It also would mean six at-large teams would be jockeying for four bowl tie-ins, but Big East officials are confident that all of its bowl-eligible teams will receive an invite since as many as seven bowls with ties to other BCS conferences (3 in the Pac 10, 2 each in Big 12 and SEC) could be open.

About Keith Sargeant

Keith Sargeant is a graduate of Middlesex County College and Kean University. A Home News Tribune staff writer since August 1997, Keith has been covering Rutgers sports since 2000, serving as the Scarlet Knights' football beat writer since 2006.

First, If ND upsets USC they are going to the Gator. Second if they lose and the Gator takes Nebraska then the Sun gets to pick and they have to take a team with 7 or more wins over a 6-6 ND. They have no choice so even if RU loses the Sun cannot take a 6-6 ND. They cannot defer their pick and at the time they select all the 7+ teams, with the exception of the BCS team, will still be available.

The Gator Bowl, or Sun Bowl, can take a 6-6 Notre Dame if Rutgers loses to Louisville. The rule is that a bowl can't take a 6-6 team if it displaces a 7-5 team out of the conference's bowls. If the Scarlet Knights lose, however, there would only be 5 teams with 7 wins for 6 spots. The 6th spot goes up for grabs by ANY of the 6-6 teams while the other two would be on their own.

The Gator, or Sun, does not have to take a team based on their record. They only have to make sure that they don't bump out any 7-5 teams, which they would not do. You would end up with Cincy to the BCS, Notre Dame to the Gator Bowl, WVU to the Meineke Tire Bowl, Pitt to the Pizza Bowl, USF to the Tropicana Dome Bowl, and the Pound Puppies to the Toronto Bowl.

Keith: Can you check out the story now circulating that the Sun Bowl is working on deal that would allow it to take Notre Dame even if the Big East has six 7-win teams? A Sun Bowl official (Folmer) says that a deal is being worked out (article linked on ScarletNation football board). If true, this would be a travesty, and likely a violation of NCAA regulations. Such a deal would push WVU to Meineke and RU to Papajohn's or some other crappy bowl.

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